


For The Birds That Can't Fly

by leavesfallfrom



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Drama, Epilepsy, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-22
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-11 04:03:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8953006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leavesfallfrom/pseuds/leavesfallfrom
Summary: Every day is a new day, but every day Blyth Reid finds herself walking on eggshells. She walks the halls with her head down and shoulders slumped. She makes sure to stay off to the side, just in case her body deceives her and she ends up on the concrete floor. Niall Horan walks the halls with his head held high, greeting others that pass him by. He walks in the middle of the hallway, hoping to catch a glimpse of the different scenes around him. 
The first time Blyth fell to the floor and the darkness then became light, she was scared. By year 12, she wasn’t scared anymore, just tired.The first time Niall saw Blyth fall to the floor, he didn’t know what to do, so he walked away. 
A story full of bloody noses, new friends, and the opening of eyes.





	1. A Rhythm In Her Body

A dirt path lies ahead; her feet are bare of any socks or shoes. The only articles of clothing covering her are a vest and cotton shorts. She notices the long line of trees of all different sizes, on either side of her that line the path.

 

Her eyes see faces in the bark, with the branches acting as arms, and leaves as wildly coloured hair. She can see people in these trees, and every time the thought frightens her.

 

She begins to run, but soon enough her muscles seize up and she drops to the ground.

 

It is then that Blyth awakes with a start.

 

Over time she’s learned what this dream is telling her; it has become an aura.

 

//\\\

 

The start of a new school year was always unsettling to Blyth. She loathed school; she disliked the learning part and definitely hated the people part.

 

This time around was going to be a little trickier for her as this summer she had transferred schools and moved across the country.

 

“The school is great, the people are great, you’re going to love it,” her mum constantly reassured her.

 

But today wasn’t going to be great, this week wasn’t going to be great, last nights dream told her that.

 

“I can’t go mom,” Blyth pleaded for what felt to her was the twentieth time “I had the dream last night, it’s going to happen.”

“You’re going,” her mum singed as she finished handing off Blyth her breakfast.

 

She wanted to fight, she wanted to get on her knees and beg some more, but Blyth knew it would be useless. Her mum was always telling her that she couldn’t let anything hold her back, that she needed to live each day like it was her last, and sometimes that saying was a real possibility.

 

With each bite Blyth took, she tried to reason in her mind, telling herself that everything would be okay, that there was nothing to worry about, although in the back of her mind there was everything to worry about and everything to be afraid of.

 

//\\\

 

Blyth stood outside the brick building looking at the spacious front entrance where other students lingered, sharing stories of how their summers went no doubt. Unlike them, Blyth took to walking straight inside, ignoring the stares that were thrown her way and heading to the office.

 

After Blyth was handed her schedule and a slip of paper that had her locker number written on it, she headed out before the first bell could sound.

 

The school was small; hopefully small enough that Blyth would be able to find her way around easily without any troubles. Unlike her last school, she was given no map, no way to know if she was heading in the right direction or if she was walking in the opposite to where her locker was.

 

As she made her way through the halls, always staying off to the side, her right hand gently gliding along the wall or locker doors as she walked by, just in case, the first bell sounded. It was the moment that woke Blyth up, telling herself that she needed to get a move on. All that went into the locker was Blyth’s knapsack; she didn’t bother to hang a magnetic mirror or pictures of her latest celeb crush or a plethora of photos where a group of friends were crowded around in front of the camera. Instead Blyth quickly hung up her bag, grabbed a notebook and pen and headed towards the first class listed on her schedule.

 

School was the devil, but maths, maths had to be his brother and it took all Blyth’s strength to walk the rest of the way to room 214 and take a seat at the back of the class. Sitting at the back meant that she could hide amongst her classmates and would hopefully be invisible whenever Mrs. Brown, her teacher was to call on the class.

 

The class filled with students, and the empty seats around Blyth quickly dwindled until the final bell rang and class began. Mrs. Brown introduced herself and the subject at hand, warning everyone that now we were dealing with our A-Levels we needed to smarten up and start taking school seriously and that this course was not for the “faint of heart”.

 

One moment Blyth’s heart was perfectly fine, a little anxiety, as she was constantly wondering when Mrs. Brown was going to start asking the class for answers to questions that Blyth had no idea how to answer, everything was so overwhelming and Blyth wasn’t sure how to deal with it all.

 

“Please take out a piece of paper and answer this by simplifying,” Mrs. Brown said to the class “write your name at the top of the page and once you’ve finished the question hand it in.”

 

_z_ 7÷ _z_ − _x_. _z_ − _y_ 2

 

Blyth could feel the air become thick as she did as was instructed. She wrote out the question slowly, trying to calm her shaky hand and once every number was in its place she sat there starting at the equation. Hell if she knew the answer.

 

Algebra let alone maths in general was never her cup of tea, the numbers always scrambled together and then as she got older they started adding letters, which nearly sent Blyth over the edge.

 

Nothing made sense and so Blyth sat there staring at the equation until her classmates began getting out of their seats to hand in their answers. Blyth could feel the perspiration clinging onto her skin and dampening her blouse, and her face and ears beginning to burn from the embarrassment she was sure to feel when she handed in the wrong answer.

 

_I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know,_ Blyth screamed in her head.

 

She kept repeating these three words in her head and before she knew it, she was scribbling down an answer that she knew for certain was not right.

 

“May I go to the washroom,” Blyth asked after she had placed her paper on the top of the stack on Mrs. Brown’s desk.

“Be quick,” was her response.

 

The trip from Blyth’s seat to her teacher’s desk left her in a dizzy spell. She walked slowly through the empty hallway, again, gently gliding her hand along the walls and lockers she passed, until she stopped and realized that she didn’t know where the washroom was.

 

As she took time to survey her surroundings her vision became clouded, a haze took over her eyes and in less than a minute later Blyth was sprawled out on the concrete floor, unconscious, and blood streaming from her nose from the fall.

 

Blyth’s muscles began to relax and tighten rhythmically, and to that one person looking from down the hallway where he stood, he watched her body convulse. He didn’t dare take a step forward, not knowing what to do in this situation and so when another called his name, he walked away.

 

Just as Blyth’s seizure came, it went. As the bell signalled students to their next class. Bodies filled the hallways once again, but instead of hearing the complaints of homework on the first day or more stories from their summer holiday, the air was quiet as everyone came to stand around Blyth’s limp body.

 

“What’s wrong with ‘er?” a boy shouted from within the crowd.

 

Phones were pulled out of pockets or repositioned in hands so as to get ready to take a picture, but before anyone could do any damage, teachers made their way through the crowd.

 

“We need to get her to the hospital,” one said, while the rest looked on at Blyth.

“Did anyone see what happened?” a male teacher called out and waited for a response.

 

No one answered, although there was one who knew exactly what happened, but he decided to stay quiet, thinking that the girl lying on the floor would be fine, he knew she’d be fine, or at least he hoped. So, nothing was said, no one spoke up, which left everyone staring and thinking of a plausible explanation as to why Blyth was lying on the floor with a small pool of blood near her head and on her shirt.

 

//\\\

 

The first time Blyth gained consciousness she was laying on a gurney in an ambulance, on the way to the hospital. She couldn’t form the words to ask what had happened and soon gave up trying and fell back asleep. The second time she woke she was laying in a hospital bed, her mum signing forms that would discharge her.

 

When Blyth was given the go ahead, she got up and walked with her mum to the car. The ride home was silent as neither Blyth nor her mum was willing to speak. Blyth wanted to scream at the top of her lungs “I told you so”, but she held back, knowing her mum was already thinking the same.

 

Once home, Blyth barricaded herself in her room and although she had only been awake for a short time, she fell back asleep, exhausted from the days events.

 

//\\\

 

“Ms. Reid, can you please stay back for a minute?”

 

It had been three days since Blyth had had a seizure in the hallway and she hadn’t been back since.

 

Blyth wasn’t new to the fact that when she walked into school this morning that people would be talking about her, about what had happened, and it wasn’t just her peers, it was the teachers too. It also wasn’t a surprise to Blyth when Mr. Daniels held her back.

 

“How are you feeling Blyth?” he asked, taking a seat on the edge of his desk.

 

Blyth shrugged her shoulders, hoping that he’d take that as a good enough answer.

 

“I took a look at your file and I thought it would be helpful for you to have a tutor?” Mr. Daniels said.

 

As much as Blyth would have liked to say “no thanks”, it sounded as though Mr. Daniels had already decided and proceeded to set up a tutor for her. She realized she had no choice.

 

“Sure,” Blyth replied with another shrug.

“Great,” Mr. Daniels said, slapping his thighs before placing his feet on the floor and walking around his desk.

 

He began telling Blyth of one student he knew that would just love to have the job, as it would help them look good with their uni applications. Apparently by the sounds of it, Mr. Daniels had already set everything up when he handed Blyth a slip of paper.

 

“Now, I’m not sure if you’ll find him around right now,” Mr. Daniels spoke, looking down at his watch “if my memory serves right, he has lacrosse practice right now. Maybe if you wanted to hang around you can meet him after?”

 

Blyth wanted to roll her eyes and tell Mr. Daniels “maybe tomorrow”, she did not want to stick around school any longer than need be. But like everything else Mr. Daniels had said to her in their conversation, he wasn’t asking, he was telling.  

 

“Where do I find him?” she asked as she looked down at the slip of paper she had been given.

“He’ll be on the field outside,” she heard Mr. Daniels say and before he could say anything more or tell her that she needed to do something else next, she walked out the classroom door.

 

The halls were quiet, everyone had either left for home once the bell had rung or they were scattered throughout the school participating in their extracurricular activities.

 

Blyth pushed the doors to the back of the school open to find the field Mr. Daniels was talking about. She walked forward to the top of the hill and looked down on the field. Boys were running across with lacrosse sticks in their hands and a were all watching the ball which was being flung across to different players and occasionally landed on the grass before quickly being scooped back up.

 

Sports never interested Blyth, however she was somehow taken by the game and was snapped out of it when, who she assumed to be the coach, blew his whistle.

 

Everyone ran towards the coach and crowded around listening to what he had to say before breaking and heading up the hill to where Blyth was currently standing, staring at them all.

“Need help with something?” one of them asked stopping to stand in front of Blyth as the rest passed.

 

Blyth was caught of guard surprised that someone had stopped. She had been contemplating in her mind how she was going to find this person. She didn’t know what he looked like and all she knew was his name.

 

Without saying a word she handed him the piece of paper and watched as he nodded and pointed behind him to the boy that had his lacrosse stick slung over his shoulder and talking to his coach.

 

“You’ve got a visitor,” the boy yelled as he handed Blyth back the slip of paper.

 

Now that he was closer, Blyth caught a good look at him and quickly looked away.

 

“Thanks,” she said to the boy that had helped her.

“No worries, I’m Harry,” he replied sticking out his hand.

“Blyth,” she said taking a hold of his hand and giving it a shake.

 

Once Harry had left to head back inside the school, the person she was supposedly looking for stood in front of her.

 

“Hi, I’m Niall,” he said.

 

 


	2. A Book That Speaks In Code

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Blyth may or may not have not studied for her quiz and made a new friend instead.

The library was quiet, an unsuspecting feat as it was lunch and all the tables were taken with other students cramming to finish up homework that was due next period. Blyth on the other hand wasn’t cramming, she was doodling in the margin of her notebook trying to do anything _but_ cram. She sat slumped in her chair, head lolling back and forth as Niall droned on beside her, expecting her to answer the question on the assignment sheet in front of her.

 

“Shouldn’t we be done by now?” Blyth spoke in a hushed tone, not wanting to disrupt the quietness.

“Ten more minutes,” Niall replied and tapped Blyth’s notebook “What does it mean?”

 

Blyth looked down at the paper where a quotation was highlighted in yellow marker.

 

 _Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave_  
My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty  
According to my bond; no more nor less.

 

“I don’t know,” she mumbled, sketching another flower in the margin of her book.

“Try,” Niall said for what felt to him was the fifteenth time that hour.

 

Blyth never really understood how Niall thought she could comprehend and digest the words in _King Lear_. It was another language to her and she could barely read normal books that weren’t written in the sort of code Shakespeare wrote.

 

“It. Doesn’t. Make. Sense,” Blyth bit out, tired of having to explain this over and over again to Niall.    

“This is what Cordelia says when King Lear demands his daughters to tell him how much they love him,” Niall began to explain, “He wants to know before he divides his kingdom between Cordelia, Goneril, and Regan. Cordelia tells him how much she loves him and that she understands and accepts without question that it is her duty to love him as a father and a king. She speaks the truth when she tells him of her love, and although she loves Lear better than her sisters do, she is unable to “heave” her heart into her mouth, as her integrity prevents her from making a false declaration in order to gain his wealth. Lear’s rage at what he perceives to be her lack of affection sets the tragedy in motion. Cordelia’s refusal to flatter Lear, then, establishes her virtue and the authenticity of her love, while bringing about Lear’s dreadful error of judgment.”

 

Niall rattled this explanation off and once he looked up from the book in his hands, he saw Blyth quickly scribbling down every last word he mentioned.

 

“Done,” Blyth gave s short smile and began packing up her books.

 

She knew that she should have tried and thought harder about the question, but Niall’s answer was just too perfect and hers would be absolute rubbish. Mr. Daniels would definitely appreciate this answer, even if it weren’t Blyth’s own analysis of the quotation.

 

“Let’s meet tomorrow at lunch again so we can review for your quiz on Friday,” Niall said, while packing up his own things.

 

Blyth was just about the leave their table but quickly turned around.

 

“Can’t,” she responded to Niall, not hiding her excitement in missing a tutoring session one bit.

“Have plans?” he queried, slinging his bag over his right shoulder “tell your boyfriend he can wait until after school.”

 

This comment set Blyth on edge; she didn’t want to divulge the fact that she had an appointment with her neurologist. Blyth thought she would be able to leave that out of the conversation, having her peers see her have a seizure was one thing, but to talk about it with them, with Niall, was another.

 

“Sorry, but my visit to see my ‘ _boyfriend_ ’ is rather important,” Blyth retorted and strode out of the library.

 

The bell had sounded, alerting the students that the day had once again come to an end and Blyth couldn’t have been any happier. As she began filling her bag with textbooks from her different classes and trying to shove the last of her notebook to finally be able to zip up the bag, a figure leaned in on the locker beside her own.

 

“How are the tutoring sessions going?” Harry asked.

 

Blyth looked up to see him staring down at her and was about to question how he knew about Niall’s and her tutoring sessions, but soon realized that he had seen the slip of paper the week beforehand, as he had helped Blyth in finding Niall in the first place.

 

Instead of responding verbally, she shrugged, not wanting to remember the code words Shakespeare wrote in that Blyth would never understand.

 

“That good huh?” Harry chuckled.

“I’m just, you know, learning so much,” Blyth responded sarcastically.

“You should come to our game tomorrow night, take your mind off the studying,” Harry suggested.

 

Blyth laughed, but told Harry that Niall might not him inviting Blyth to the game. It wasn’t because Niall had a thing for Blyth, not at all. But it was a Thursday night and Blyth had her English quiz the next day and as of that moment, her grade was not looking too good.

 

“Study extra hard tonight then,” he said, smiling and walking away.

 

//\\\

 

Blyth had come and gone to her appointment, leaving school right after her art class, but not returning before her tutoring session with Niall, her English Lit class, and three quarters of her music class. Luckily for Blyth, she had come in just as everyone was disassembling their instruments and placing them back in their cases; class was officially over. Her peers sat around talking so Blyth followed suit, taking a seat in the back until the final bell rang signalling the end of the day.

 

Just like the day before, Harry stood beside Blyth’s locker, politely telling her that she needed to come to the lacrosse game tonight.

 

“Niall won’t like it,” she sang out to Harry, just like the day before, but he paid no attention as he was beginning to retreat away.

“Games at seven sharp don’t be late!” He yelled out.

 

There were definitely pros and cons of going to this lacrosse game and they were currently being juggled around in Blyth’s brain and she was trying to make sense of them all.

 

The pros were consisted of:

  * Going to the game would get her out of studying for this quiz tomorrow.



 

The cons were lists as:

  * Going to the game would mean less time for her to study…and Blyth needed to study…unfortunately.
  * She didn’t know a thing about lacrosse.
  * She would be surrounded by people she did not know.
  * She would have to go by herself and how awkward would that be…



 

It was obvious that the cons outweighed the pros, but just like anything school-related, Blyth didn’t care. The decision to go was a toss-up and although once Blyth had gotten home from school, she had told her mum that she was going to the game tonight, now she wasn’t so sure. Blyth had dressed herself in trousers and a nice warm jumper to keep the cool breeze off her skin and kept a jacket on her arm. She stood in the front hall walking back and forth debating whether her lack of attendance would be noticed, she twirled the idea of not going over and over, until she called out to say that she was leaving. The walk to the school wasn’t long; it gave Blyth the option to turn back any time, although she never did.

 

The stands were filled and somehow this surprised Blyth, but it was a usual occurrence to anyone else attending the game. She noticed the signs and banners students and parents held up as the players assembled on the field, taking their positions. For the life of her, Blyth couldn’t find a place to sit. Her eyes scanned the bleachers, looking for an empty spot, until her eyes finally landed on one. Walking down between the two bleachers she veered off to the right until she reached the third row. Knees were bumped as Blyth scooted along until she had gotten to the empty space.

 

“Is anyone sitting here?” Blyth asked the occupants on either side of the empty seat.

 

Both shook their head, leaving Blyth to claim the seat as her own.

 

“Who are you cheering for?” the girl on Blyth’s left asked.

 

Her jumper adorned the schools crest, which instantly told Blyth that they attended the same school.

 

“No one in particular,” Blyth answered and asked the girl the question in return.

“My brother Liam,” she replied “I’m Eimear by the way.”

 

Once Blyth introduced herself Eimear wouldn’t stop talking. She spoke of her brother Liam, who was captain of the lacrosse team; she spoke of her boyfriend Louis, who was coincidently Liam’s best friend and how upset Liam was finding that his best friend was hooking up with his sister. Eimear was still rambling on by the time the first quarter had finished, apparently there had been goals scored and cheering had probably erupted around the two girls, but neither noticed. It was finally in the fourth and final quarter that they finished off their conversation (for now) and finally turned to watch the ending of the game.

 

Eimear stood on her feet with the rest of the crowd as the players that had the same crest that was on Eimear’s sweater, on their own jerseys, travelled down the field opposite their goal, and scored on the opposing net. Blyth thought the crowd couldn’t get any louder, but they proved her wrong, as she placed her hands to cover her ears, trying to keep some of the sound out. With seconds on the clock, the game ended and those occupying the stands ran out to the field congratulating the team. Blyth’s eyes swept across the field as she watched the opposing team walk with their heads hung and shoulders slumped, taking their first loss of the season. She watched as Eimear followed suit and clumped down, taking one step at a time. Eimear ran over to Louis, jumping in his arms without warning and practically screeching in his ear in excitement for their win.

 

“G’off my sister,” Liam grumbled towards Louis and Eimear, hoping and praying that they’d put some distance between each other in Liam’s presence.

 

The crowd of people started to thin out and all that was left were a small group of players and a couple stragglers, Eimear included, on the edge of the field. By this time Blyth was one of the very few still sitting on the bleachers wondering if she should leave or go say hi to Harry. She decided with leaving, that would be the easiest and less embarrassing option and if Harry asked about her being there she wouldn’t be caught in a lie. Taking the stairs two at a time, Blyth almost made it to the top with being unnoticed, until the voice she had recognized as Eimear’s called out to her.

 

“C’mere Blyth,” Eimear yelled, waving Blyth over.

 

Blyth was in a state of confusion, she could pretend that she never heard Eimear’s call and keep walking away, she could turn around and face the small gathering that had now grown into a medium sized group at the edge of the field, or so could quickly yell some excuse saying that she needed to leave. All these options were currently swirling around in her mind and for the life of her, she just couldn’t choose one, so the only option left was to freeze.

 

The group waiting at the field all watched as Blyth stood frozen in place. She was two stairs away from the top where she would be free, but Eimear kept shouting her name and the rest watched on as Blyth finally turned and trucked back the down concrete stairs and stood in front of the group.

 

Eimear stood proudly as she introduced Blyth the to group, a megawatt smile plastered on her face. She had very much enjoyed sitting beside Blyth during the game and hoped to do so more often.

 

“Always bringing in the strays,” Louis teased, but quickly worried that Blyth wouldn’t take that as a joke. Blyth’s smile let him know that all was okay and he went on to introduce himself.

 

The rounds were made, there was Louis, Liam – who Eimear had pointed out at the beginning of the game, Zayn, Harry, and then there was Niall. They were joined by three other girls standing off to the side with pinched faces, looking between Blyth and the rest of the group.

 

“That’s Ada, Alexis, and Annabelle,” Eimear nodded towards each girl.

 

None of them spoke or offered a smile, but recognition crossed the girl Eimear had pointed out as Alexis face and she spoke the words that tore Blyth to pieces.

 

“You’re the seizure girl right?”

 

Just like her reaction on the stairs minutes before, Blyth froze and felt her heart sink into her stomach. Everyone standing close by could see the flush of her cheeks, they could now feel how tense the air was, waiting for someone to break the silence.

 

Just as Blyth was ready to answer Alexis’ question, that she very much knew the answer to and was just trying to embarrass Blyth with, Niall spoke up.

 

“I’ve got those notes you were wanting in my car,” Niall nodded and stepped away from our group, tugging of the sleeve of Blyth’s coat.

 

After flashing a quick insincere smile, she quickly fell in step with Niall and walked up the stairs once again until they were out of view.

 

“Thanks,” Blyth mumbled and started on a separate path as Niall.

“D’you need a ride?” Niall voiced as he tossed his equipment bag into the trunk of his car.

“It’s okay, it’s a short walk,” Blyth waved off.

 

Niall wasn’t sure why, but he felt as if he needed to take Blyth home. It was late and the sky had long since become dark, and considering the fact that he thought Blyth could drop to the ground at any minute was a bit frightening.

 

“C’mon, it’s no big deal,” he urged, and once Blyth was settled in with her seatbelt strapped across her chest could he finally relax, nothing was going to happen under his watch.

 

Niall listened as Blyth guided him in the direction of her home; it was in the opposite direction of his own, but he wouldn’t dare tell Blyth that.

 

“So do you walk to school everyday?” Niall asked once he was parked in Blyth’s driveway.

“Usually, sometimes my mum will drive me if she’s not working,” she responded.

“Have you got your provisional license yet?” he asked.

 

It was another awkward situation Blyth was put in. She hated explaining all the limitations held against her, it was awkward and humiliating when she told those that asked the question.

 

“I have to be seizure free for two years before I can get my provisional,” Blyth sighed “and last weeks seizure put me back at the start.”

“How long was it?” Niall asked, “Since you had your last seizure?”

“It was about six months,” she recalled, the last seizure she took had been a rather nasty one.

 

She remembered the bloodstains left on the carpet of her old bedroom floor and the cracked edge of her dresser. That time the set back wasn’t as bad, the seizures had only been a month apart and so she wasn’t as dishearten. But this time it had been six months. Six months of progress and now it was all gone and Blyth couldn’t do a single thing about it.

 

Niall didn’t say a word; he didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure there was anything he could say that would make Blyth feel better, or make her believe that her seizures would come to an end, if he did the words would have already left his mouth. Instead he nodded and made a quick decision.

 

“Tuesday and Wednesday I’ve got practice after school, but other than that, I can drive you home and I can pick you up in the mornings,” Niall said.

 

Words were trying to come out of Blyth’s mouth but only a small squawk echoed between the two.

 

“I’ll be here tomorrow 8:15am sharp,” he spoke with finality.

 

It was how the night ended. Blyth nodded her head and unclipped herself from the seatbelt and opened the door of Niall’s car, stepping out and walking the path to her front door. The outside lights lit the front porch making it easy for Blyth to find the key, which unlocked the door.

 

She hadn’t a clue as to why Niall was offering her a ride to school and neither did Niall. All he knew was that he didn’t want to see what had happened in the hall the week before ever again.    

 


	3. A Game Of Uncertainty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a couples lips collide on a Friday night and the unknown of Monday morning.

The sun wasn’t quite shining bright; it was hiding behind the clouds, peaking out at this time of morning. The time of day was 8:13 and Blyth was currently sitting on the bench with her knapsack sitting at her feet. She didn’t get the chance the night before to tell Niall that she didn’t need a ride to school, walking was perfectly fine with Blyth. But there she was wondering if he would stick to his word and pick her up. Two minutes later a horn could be heard from outside Blyth’s front door. Not wanting to keep Niall waiting she quickly snatched up her knapsack and slung a strap over her shoulder. It was 8:15 am sharp and Niall had kept to his word.

This morning Niall woke up a bit later than usual, he played it off as his alarm not going off at the correct time, but really it was the snooze button that seemed to keep him in bed. It was a rushed morning, with a scarfed down breakfast of toast smeared with butter, his notebooks shoved into his knapsack, and him having to run back inside once he reached his car because he forgot to grab the keys off the kitchen counter where he had dropped them the night before, and racing back out to the car. Once the engine was kicked into gear the speedometer had no limit, Niall took no notice to the traffic signs on his way over to Blyth’s, he needed to be there on time, he couldn’t be late.

“Thanks for the drive,” Blyth spoke once she was settled and had her seatbelt buckled “but you really didn’t have to.”

“It’s no problem at all,” Niall waved off, although he could have caught an extra ten minutes of sleep if he hadn’t of had to pick Blyth up, but he reassured himself that an extra ten minutes were nothing and if need be he could always take a kip during maths.  

The music coming from the radio kept the awkward silence to a minimum, Blyth had no idea what to talk about, the only two topics that came to mind were lacrosse and English and neither of those topics she was particularly fond of. Niall on the other hand sat comfortably in his seat, humming along to a song that was a hit back when he was younger, and not thinking about anything really, it was a good morning.

“How did the studying go?” Niall asked Blyth, when the thought occurred to him that, yes he did see her at the game the night before, and yes he drove her home, so when exactly did she study for her quiz today?

“Great!” Blyth lied through her teeth “I think it’s finally making sense.”

It was a minute later when Niall finally broke the silence yelling out that Blyth was a liar and that she didn’t study at all the night before.

She had been so sure that her voice sounded convincing, yet there Blyth was cringing from Niall’s rising voice in the small space.

“I’m sorry,” Blyth whined little a little kid and slumped back into her seat “but Harry wouldn’t stop bothering me about the game, so I went to shut him up.”

He knew without a doubt that Harry would have asked Blyth to the game, she wasn’t telling a lie there, but Niall was just surprised she went in the first place, she didn’t seem like the type to like lacrosse or any sport for that matter.

“What do you like to do Blyth?” Niall asked, it was a question that had been stuck in his head for the past couple days, and he had yet to find some sort of answer to.

She answered with a shrug, giving Niall nothing to work with and so he left the conversation there.

“So, King Lear,” Niall started.

Evidently there was always a group waiting around for when Niall arrived to school. They stood by the tail of the green car alongside Niall’s parked car – it was his spot and apparently everyone knew that. Blyth kept her head down, hoping no one noticed her in the passenger seat and before Niall could put the car in park Blyth had unbuckled her seatbelt and had her hand pressed against the door waiting until Niall put the gear in shift and the car was parked.

“Thanks for the ride,” Blyth quickly mumbled out and pushed the car door open.

Her feet would only take her so far before Blyth heard her name being called from Niall.

“Forgetting something?” he asked.

At that, Blyth looked down; she wasn’t carrying anything when Niall picked her up she had everything, except her knapsack. It was the rush to get away that made her forget about the one thing she actually needed for the day and so, like when she got out of the car, Blyth hurriedly walked back over and took the bag from Niall’s outstretched hand.

“Blyth!” Eimear waved “come chat!”

It was the last thing Blyth wanted to do, but Eimear had been so kind the night before that it made Blyth feel so wrong to walk away.

“Hi, Eimear,” Blyth waved in return as she got closer to the group.

It was the same group that had stayed on the football field the night before and although there was only a twelve-hour gap between these two meetings, it was a struggle to remember the names of the faces that stood before her.  

“Uh yeah,” Blyth smiled before politely excusing herself so that she could get in what little time was left before the first bell rang to study.

Blyth’s hand trailed the lockers as she made her way to her own and grabbed the books she needed for her first two classes of the day.

Rubbish, that was how Blyth felt before, during, and after she had taken the quiz on _King Lear_. There were words she had never even heard of, let alone read coherently, and so when the multiple choice questions had simmered away and the quiz became short answer, Blyth knew she was in trouble.  

***

It was the end of the day, the time most students were excited for, as it was finally time to head home. Unlike her peers, Blyth dreaded this time of day. Blyth was not allowed to go home just yet, no, she had to sit in the library beside Niall Horan, who she knew would bother her about the quiz she had taken at the beginning of the day. Nothing would bother her more than admitting he was right, that she should have stayed home the night before to study.

“How’d it go?” was the first thing Niall said when he took the seat next to Blyth.

“Lunch was good, though the pizza tasted a bit like cardboard,” she replied “I think everyone should protest, I mean I’m sure they can make better pizza than that.”

“Well I’m glad you had a good lunch,” he grinned “but I was talking about your quiz, how’d it go?”

“I finished on time, that’s got to count for something right?” Blyth commented with a shrug.

Niall looked at her, knowing she had done terrible, but not wanting to push the subject any further. He knew she was having trouble with the material already, and he was afraid if he said something about Blyth not trying more, that she’d be more upset.

“We’ll get it for the next one,” was all he said about the quiz “Page 13.”

Blyth did as told without a snide remark and looked down at the pages content.

“Do you think someone whose dyslexic can get an A in English?” Blyth asked.

Getting an A in English would help to increase he overall average and it would be a sure-fire way to get into the university of her dreams. But as things looked at the moment, Blyth wasn’t too optimistic about her odds.

“I think if the person tried hard enough, she could do it,” Niall responded, slipping up at the end, knowing that Blyth was speaking about herself.

***

The ride home with Niall had been different than that of the morning. The conversation of King Lear had been taken from the library to Niall’s car and now currently to Blyth’s driveway, where for what felt like was the tenth time in their conversation Blyth had spoken about her hatred for Shakespeare.

“Whatever,” Niall waved Blyth’s comment off “Oh, E, wanted me to invite you to her party tomorrow night.”

“Whose E?” Blyth asked, not knowing anyone of that name.

“Eimear, it’s not a big party,” he reassured “just our group.”

“I’ll think about it,” she said unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the car, before giving Niall a final wave until they saw each other the next morning.

***

It was Friday night and Blyth was feeling like she made a very big mistake coming to this party. Niall didn’t lie when he said the party was going to be small, though there were a few extra faces that Blyth did not recognize when she walked in ten minutes after the party had officially begun.

“You came!” Eimear yelled when Blyth walked into the room.

There was a fumble in Eimear’s step when she got up from her spot on the floor as she made her way to Blyth, who stood in the doorway.

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to come, Niall’s not very good at persuasion,” Eimear giggled into Blyth’s ear “did ya want a drink or somat?”

Blyth mentally hit herself for thinking that this party wouldn’t have alcohol, what kind of party didn’t these days? Even kids birthday parties had alcohol. Therefore it wasn’t that hard to put two and two together as to why Eimear had stumbled.

“I’m fine,” Blyth answered “you just go sit down.”

Eimear did as told and made a space for Blyth beside her where everyone sat on the floor in a circle. Hesitantly she made her way and took the empty spot, crossing her legs and folding her hands in her lap.

Blyth had the feeling as if she were five years old again, with the group of friends (not _her_ friends, they were friends of one another) all sat in a circle waiting quietly and patiently for something to begin.

“Let’s start yeah?” Louis interrupted the quiet.

With agreements from the group, Louis rubbed his hands together and leaned into the middle of the circle. There lying on its side was a beer bottle (that might have been the cause of Eimear’s stumble) and once Louis’ hand came in contact, it began spinning.

A flash of heat coursed through Blyth’s body as she realized the game they were all playing. She had never participated in Spin the Bottle, but she had heard stories of her fellow peers playing a game or two at their weekend parties, and of course the game was depicted in a copious amount of movies, which explained the game very clearly and made Blyth terribly nervous.  

Blyth understood what happened next when the bottle spun quickly and unfortunately for Louis, landed on Zayn. Blyth knew the rules, but apparently this game was being played a bit differently. Instead of Louis leaning over Alexis to reach Zayn, the group all began to chatter and unanimously chanted Eimear’s name. Something just wasn’t clicking in Blyth’s brain. She wasn’t sure why Louis or Eimear were playing the game if they were only going to be kissing each other, she thought that they had might as well just head over to the corner of the room and make out, instead of pretending that they were actually going to kiss someone else.

“Where are they going?” Blyth asked as both Louis and Eimear rose from their spots on the floor and headed off in the direction of a door.

“We’ve mixed spin the bottle and seven minutes in heaven,” Harry explained, “they’re heading to the food pantry to have a quickie.”                

Uncertainty flooded her mind as Blyth thought of ways to get out of this house, she did not want to ‘have a quickie’ in the closet with someone she barely knew, she couldn’t do that.

The game continued on as Eimear and Louis had their fun in the pantry and soon enough Alexis had spun the bottle that had landed on Zayn, Harry had spun which landed on Niall. Instead of heading into the closet, Harry reached across the circle and took Niall’s face in his own and puckered his lips for a quick kiss. There had been a few close calls each time the bottles pace slowed and then came to a complete stop and each time she released a shaky breath, thankful that she hadn’t had to go to the closet yet.

“Niall mate, you’re up,” Louis shouted as he and Eimear appeared from the closet for their third time during the game.

Crouching forward, Niall grabbed the bottle and with a flick of his wrist sent it spinning. Another shaky breath was relieved as the bottle landed on Eimear, but knowing that Eimear would not kiss Niall meant that the group chose. Whispers were exchanged as the boys all converged and discussed whom Niall should take to the closet, as if it was some big deal.  

It turned out to be a very big deal as Blyth’s name was called to attention. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Ada’s face crumple into disappointment and anger as Niall slowly rose from his spot and Blyth did the same. She told herself to keep calm, not to do anything rash, like make a run for the front door or lock herself in the toilet.

No, she kept on a steady path, following Niall, watching as he opened the door and allowed her entry into the pantry first. It was dark, the only light coming from the crack at the bottom of the door. There was no way Blyth could see what Niall’s facial expression looked like, nor could he see the worry lines creased on her face.

“We don’t have to -” Niall started to say and once those four words were out, it seemed like all the pent up air was released from Blyth’s body.

“Thanks,” she uttered “so King Lear?”

Niall laughed because he knew King Lear was the last thing Blyth would ever want to talk about. This left him slightly unbalanced and caused him to take a step forwards. Reaching out, Niall grabbed hold of Blyth’s shoulders to steady himself and control his laughter. By this time Blyth and Niall’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness and they could faintly see each other. Not a word was spoken once Niall’s laughter had died down and so it was very easy to hear what was happening outside the pantry door. It seemed as though the group of party-goers that were left to wait out Niall and Blyth’s seven minutes, were very curious as to what was happening with the couple on the other side of the door.

“They’re coming!” Blyth panicked.

Niall knew what was going to happen next. The seven minute mark was coming to an end and he knew Louis all too well that before the timer went off the door to the pantry would fly open, leaving everyone to see what was going on. Niall felt bad going back on his word, telling Blyth they didn’t need to kiss, but Louis would know once the door opened and then it would be a sudden death round, which nobody ever wanted to cross over to.

“I’m sorry,” Niall mumbled, before leaning in and taking Blyth’s face in his hands.

She was shocked and unable to respond for the first couple seconds. Blyth hadn’t been kissed like this before and if she were being honest, she’d have told herself that this was technically her first kiss. Kissing a boy at age six just didn’t count in her book, and so as Niall worked at tugging her bottom lip, Blyth was slightly disappointed that her first kiss was interrupted by Louis shouting ‘times up!’ As she opened her eyes and pulled away from Niall, a blush rushed to her cheeks and looked at the crowd and back at Niall, hoping that maybe, just maybe everyone could forget what they had seen. Blyth wouldn’t, of course she wouldn’t, but hopefully it wouldn’t be a topic for discussion come Monday morning.


End file.
